Saturday, December 03, 2011

Polluting Industries Winning the Message War on Climate Change

In 2007, 71% of Americans believed climate change was being caused — at least in part — by the burning of fossil fuels. In 2009, only 51% held that belief. And as of June 2011, only 44% of Americans still believe this.

According to the director of survey research for the Pew Research Center, “this is among the largest shifts over a short period of time seen in recent public opinion history.”

And these percentages aren’t the worst of it. In addition, there’s a new religious zealotry and emotional intensity among the reactionary anti-science tools. They don’t just scoff at the idea of climate change and then change the subject. They believe, they know — they’ve seen the light! — that climate change (a more accurate term than global warming) is just a trumped-up excuse for power-grabbing socialists to take over America and steal our property rights. Disagreeing on this issue is the equivalent of telling a born again Christian that there’s no God.

This mass viewpoint shift — and the culture war intensity — didn’t just “happen.” It’s been meticulously orchestrated and heavily funded. It’s a perfect storm of wealthy industrialists‘ massive funding, rightwing think tanks cranking out their “message” 24/7/65, and millions of gullible inbreds who keep falling for it hook line and sinker.

Two examples of these think tanks are the Heartland Institute and the Competitive Enterprise Institute. In the linked article, Naomi Klein describes the Heartland Institute’s Sixth International Conference on Climate Change as “the premier gathering for those dedicated to denying the overwhelming scientific consensus that human activity is warming the planet.”

At this conference, a member of the Competitive Enterprise Institute gave a speech with the obligatory references to Saul Alinsky and the terrifying agenda of international socialists disguised as environmentalists:

“You can believe this is about the climate…but it’s not a reasonable belief…No free society would do to itself what this agenda requires…. The first step to that is to remove these nagging freedoms that keep getting in the way.”

This conference was basically two days of instilling fear in the hearts of the gullible. When Obama made a campaign promise to support locally owned biofuel refineries, he was actually carrying out a long-running Maoist plot. The editor of ClimateDepot.com compared environmentalists to Aztec priests sacrificing people to appease their gods. Speaker after speaker derided the whole notion of climate change as a Trojan Horse designed to destroy capitalism and replace it with a sinister eco-socialist police state.

Larry Bell, the author of Climate of Corruption, says climate change “has little to do with the state of the environment and much to do with shackling capitalism and transforming the American way of life in the interests of global wealth redistribution.”

Well, there you have it. This is what we’re up against. Environmentalists — meaning anybody who wants this planet to survive — need to get involved in this message war and start fighting back.

Four years ago, when most people were aware of the cause and effect between fossil fuel burning and climate change, it seemed like we could count on informed voters to unite and stave off the pending ecological nightmare.

8 Comments:

Unfortunately, the "Global Warming" advocates shot themselves in the foot early on and played right into their hands. Now it is out of control.

Funny thing about the environment is it will win out and force us to pay attention to it. And then the price at that point will make Love Canal look like a sit com.

In my opinion, it matters not who or what is causing the change, we should not be shitting in our own nest. Common sense ferchrisakes. It is somewhat a sad commentary that the best this planet's animal life could come up with was us. We are not representing the top tier very well.

We can thank Frank Luntz and his way with words, as it relates to climate change vs global warming. He is the toady that went into commander cuckoo bananas telling him they needed to attack the science and the messengers bringing the science. I swear people are just so damn stupid I want to scream.

There are reasons to be optimistic. China, the place where we transferred all of our iundustrial base, DOES believe in climate change, and they are taking action. And since they own most of the industrial base of the former US, their efforts will resonate. Our efforts will soon amount to nothing, as none of us will be able to afford to drive a car, or heat our houses.

I'll bet Rep. Joe "Forgive Them, BP, For They Know Not What They Do" Barton and Sen. Jim Inhofe attended that conference and experienced a prolonged orgasm through the whole thing.

Congressional Republicans look at it this way: "What the hell did any environmentalists ever do for me or my political career? On the other hand, I know what the extractive energy and chemical companies have done for me and my political career. It add$ up!"

As for the survey stats, score another one for those who've perfected the big-lie technique. Works every time.

MRM: You're right, the environment will win ultimately. If we keep shitting in our own nests, we're the ones who will suffer.

Erik: That's why "climate change" is a more useful and accurate term than global warming. Warmer temperatures are one of the symptoms, but the symptoms also include floods, tornadoes, freaky weather in general.